Hurt...

I nearly quit today.

The behaviour of some people online saddens me greatly. Just because I do not actually see you on the other end of the screen does not mean simple manners become luxury. I mean, granted, I can see why some people are out to cheat others and generally be complete asses to others. I mean, take for example, I borrow your Aristocrat's Coat and then throw away my linkpearl and /blacklist you. You are now down an Aristocrat's Coat and I am up one.

Seriously, just what are you going to do? Type angrily at me?

But just because we can does not mean that we should. The time with the server changes was horrible- people who were going to switch servers were borrowing things left, right, and center and then running off to their new world. But I digress.

Names kept to protect the innocent. Or maybe I'm just too nice sometimes.

What upsets me greatly was how a particular group of people behaved on this particular night. It all started out with me trying to get Kagemushi's Davoi coffer key. Those of you who have tried to get the key before will know that it isn't exactly the easiest of drops out there- I personally spent ten hours trying to get this key, eventually giving up, and stumbling across it whilst doing Windurst 8-1. We had a bunch of people from TrueRune come along and one outside Ranger who needed a Ranger's testimony.

Now, the problem here was our setup- RNG RNG THF THF DRG BLM.

Note the absence of a proper tank, and the fact that our party is incredibly melee-centered. And so, for a while Akanea did an admirable job tanking, and I tried acting the part of White Mage for a while, although I was personally rather miffed at this since I could've done to change into my White Mage gear for this. No matter. However, the outside Ranger was certainly getting on my nerves, unloading two Sidewinders in rapid succession without a proper tank and screaming for Cure when I'm in the middle of casting a Cure on our "tank"! He lucked out and I managed to get a Cure on him with him at a sliver of health remaining, but I can imagine how much he'd complain if he had died. Fortunately, the Ranger's testimony dropped without too much trouble, and we went on to the main event- Saoirse's coffer key at Castle Oztroja.

A bit of a background on Oztroja. Skillup parties in Oztroja are particuarly valued by Black Mages since the Yagudo Prelates there are the only source for the spell Aero IV. While yes, one can buy the scroll, it is a pretty penny at 200-250k (and rising), and there is rarely one in stock. So, I tagged along hoping to snag an Aero IV along the way.

This is where we also get some help from outside people- a THF, his BLM friend, and a NIN, so at least we have a real tank to work with. The THF was level 61, the BLM was 56, and I do not recall what level the NIN was. Anyway, for some reason, the NIN started pulling and I was a little anxious since I'd like to cycle through the Prelates as quickly as possible so they can respawn. However, Oztroja is no Beadeaux. There is no real convenient place to camp that gives you access to multiple Yagudo Prelate spawn points, and so, I understand when the NIN was saying he was just pulling whatever was closest.

He then went on to ask "Why don't you pull?" I figured that as a NIN, he shouldn't be pulling, and while I was curious why none of our THFs or RNGs were pulling, I also wanted to try to get through as many Prelates as I could feasily. So I stepped up and started to pull. Being able to pull with Silence particularly helped to avoid links, which I guess is a nice plus point. I proceed to try to clear out a path to the side rooms where some Prelates spawn. One of the Yagudo that we killed along the way happened to drop the key, and we were all happy.

Now, all I really needed to get were Prelates. Given that the positioning of the Yagudo aren't exactly the most convenient, I was not skilling, or taking part in combat, instead immediately going out again to wait for the opportune moment to pull since my experience in Beadeux tells me that such times are few and far in between. So I really did need some time for the Prelate to separate itself from whatever it happened to be with, and vice versa. Some might argue that I should've pulled the other mob first, but if I'm waiting for the Prelate to separate, then I am also waiting for the other to separate. Basically, I might as well pull the Prelate.

Fast forward a bit. Thanks to the fact that we only have two mages, and one of them is out pulling, our party gets worn down quite quickly. In addition, the visiting BLM died on the last pull (I'm not sure what happened- he was just face down on the ground all of a sudden). I go out to pull. By this time, another skillup party has arrived, and are also killing off the mobs in the area. I guess someone in their party must've recognised that I was trying to get an Aero IV, since for the most part, they left the Prelates alone, which I appreciated. Eventually, it came down to this- the party's all in yellow and I'm staring at a Prelate + one other Yagudo when the other party arrives. They line up to pull and I'm watching them do this. Then, they pull the other Yagudo.

Two options- I can wait for my party to recover and not pull, and have the Prelate link, or I can pull the Prelate away from them and make things easier. I decided to pull, also because by pulling it away from the party and back to the camp, I avoid the possibility of pops along the way back, and while the party's down, I was planning to Sleep II the Yagudo to let the party recover. In the worst cast scenario, I can deal with the Yagudo myself since I can solo them. So I pull with Silence and start running back to the camp.

The party freaks out.

I get back to camp when the Silence I cast on the Yagudo wears off. I've started casting my Sleep II when the Prelate decides to cast Sleepga, which knocks everyone out. Given that I was casting Sleep II at this point, I don't really know why the other BLM did not Stun the Sleepga, but oh well. Luckily, the Yagudo then followed up with Poisonga II, waking everyone up, and since I didn't get to cast Sleep II the first time, I can Sleep II immediately after waking up.

People start engaging the mob, and so my Sleep falls off almost instantly. ; ;

At this point, this but becomes a blur. Because the Yagudo had been landing some hits during all this, people's health was now in the red with Poison II and an angry Yagudo on them. I quickly try Poisona-ing everyone and Curing them when I notice that the other BLM has instinctively started to cast Escape. Whether he was told to do so by the visiting NIN or THF in /tell, I don't know. However, the problem is that I was also in the same party as him.

I go "{Escape}{Huh?!}", and he sits down. If he was told to Escape, the person telling him must've been frantic at this point, since he immediately started to cast Escape again. At this point, I'm wondering what the hell can get us out of this mess when his Escape resolves. It then becomes crystal clear to everyone else at this point why I didn't want him to Escape. The Escape took me with it, and now the others six are left up in Castle Oztroja, stranded with low health against an angry Prelate, and they no longer have a mage with them.

As soon as the screen loads showing me in the Meriphataud Mountains, I immediately turn around and start running back to the others to try to get back to them. Sometime during this, a BRD comes into the party, and he immediately starts launching with comments like "{Congratulations!} you have just killed your party" and basically being a complete nuisance from the get-go, especially since he had no idea what had happened previously. The other party (who is outside) starts yelling at me, wondering why the hell I would pull a mob when the party's recovering, obviously not knowing some of the details. I guess to them, it must've been a stupid, @#$%ed up pull; while to me, I'm wondering why the hell they would engage a mob when there are two BLMs who can both Sleep it. Sometime while walking through Castle Oztroja, they disband and leave in a huff.

In an effort to patch things, I apologize to each of them in /tell. The NIN's okay with it, giving me a "np". The BLM is a little nicer, giving me a full "hey, np. I'm just sorry I could only save my friends and not yours." The THF, on the other hand...

"I'm not the only one you should apologize to."

Geez, if this is how people behave, no wonder the Japanese don't want to play with us. Trying to get all high-and-mighty, eh? I asked him why the other BLM Escaped, and he replied with words describing by last pull that made me glad I had my chat filter on. In retrospect, I asked the wrong question: I should've just asked why on earth he engaged the mob. In the end, we part ways somewhat awkwardly, wishing each other a good night although to be honest, I don't like him, and I'm sure he doesn't like me either.

In the meantime, the BRD's been going on about how stupid things are, and have been letting the rest survive with Horde Lullaby and regenerative songs. Enron offers to bring some of his friends along to help get my Aero IV scroll, but at this point, I'm upset enough that I just want to quit. I come back to find the rest already on their way outside. Personally, I was rather disorientated after all this, and ended up walking in circles twice before finding the path down, where I meet up with Enron and the BRD. I know Enron wants a Warp II home, but I wasn't sure what the BRD wanted. I felt like he would, since we are disbanding, but I wanted to be sure, especially given the recent turn of events.

So I ask in /party chat, "Would you like a D2 back?"

I have people telling me yes, and people telling me no, but the BRD himself keeps quiet.

I then ask again, addressing him specifically, "___, would you like a D2 back?"

Crickets start chirping.

At this point, I feel it's safe to assume that he would want a D2, since it'd be better for him to not want a D2 and get it, than want a D2 and not get it. I start casting Warp II on him, and he yells out {Stop!}, but it is too late. I try to interrupt the spell, but it goes off anyway and he gets Warped back to Jeuno.

In thanks, I get a "Tuufless...I don't like you --;" and he disbands. /sigh

I'm wondering what else can go wrong, really. To be perfectly honest, this night was the one time in FF I actually cried (which then brings up the suggestion that I'm taking this all-too-seriously, but that's a different point). Shocked at the BRD's behaviour, at how the THF suddenly bared his fangs despite the fact we were joking around earlier while helping Kagemushi just goes to show just how low some people are. The fact that this is not a common occurance is not exactly encouraging either.

The ironic thing is that people behave like this and still wonder why the Japanese don't want to play with them? Heck, I wouldn't want to play with people like them!

At this point, I really need a place to vent, and I let it out in the linkshell. I don't remember how I sounded at the time, although I definitely remember that I just wanted to quit, having completely lost faith in the game. Thankfully, the members in the linkshell are more insightful, and come to support me, which really helped. (Thank you!) Sometime during all my ranting, I have Enron trying to convince me to stay, and I also become acutely aware of something Aka, Saoirse, and Kagemushi are planning behind my back, thanks to an mt in /linkshell (I had disbanded from the party). I came to the logical conclusion- they were pooling their funds together to buy me that last scroll of Aero IV on the Auction House. I was rather taken aback at this, since I didn't think I meant this much to people.

I didn't want them to buy the scroll--after all, it's my spell, and I wouldn't expect them to foot my costs, and since I had every intention of quittinfg, it'd be a complete waste of money if they bought the scroll, I used it and then quit. After continual bugging from Akanea to accept the scroll (which they had already bought and sent to me), I reluctantly took it, and they all wanted to meet up with me to see it in action, their reasoning being that "it'd make [me] feel better after I blow up some crabs or something." Hehe. ^^ I meet up with them in Qufim, Aero IV in hand, and still unsure if I should use it. Saoirse assures me otherwise, "If you use it, feel happier and then quit, it'll still be worth it." Kagemushi starts engaging a crab, at which point, I basically go "Screw it," and use the scroll of Aero IV.

Aero IV obliterated the crab. It felt good. ^^

Thanks guys. /smile.

(Afterwards, we decided one crab was not enough, and then went about training the entire Qufim Island. It was rather amusing to see a Japanese BLM40 try to steal the fun by Thandaga'ing the train and getting killed in the process, although the fact that many many many leeches, crabs, pugs, and giants were actually all of us, including myself, meant that we had to hurry. Saoirse, Kagemushi, Akanea and I all went in different directions training and met in one spot. One Blizzaga III, an Aeroga III and a Waterga III later, everything died. I laughed maniacally. Ah, talk about sweet release...and Enron, if you're thinking dirty thoughts again, I will /slap you! /grin)